Detecting gas leaks using unmanned aerial vehicles

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and computer program products for detecting gas leaks using a drone are provided. Aspects include capturing a first set of data regarding a presence of a gas in the geographic area while flying along the initial flight path. Aspects also include creating secondary flight paths through regions in the geographic area in which the presence of the gas exceeds a threshold amount and capturing a second set of data regarding a concentration of the gas in the one or more regions while flying along the secondary flight paths. Aspects further include capturing wind data while flying along the initial and second flight paths and creating a three-dimensional gas plume model for gas leaks identified in the geographic area based on the first set of data, the second set of data and the wind data, wherein the three-dimensional gas plume model identifies a source of the gas leaks.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

This invention was made with Government support under ContractDE-AR0000540 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The United StatesGovernment has certain rights in this invention.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to a system and method fordetecting gas leaks using unmanned aerial vehicles and, morespecifically, to a system and method for using unmanned aerial vehicles,also referred to herein as drones, to identify the source of a gas leak.

Global warming is accelerated by the presence of greenhouse gasses inthe atmosphere. While the impact of Carbon Dioxide is well documented,less commonly known, Methane, ethane, nitric oxide, or hydrogen sulphidemay not be as well documented. Many of the above gases may have agreenhouse gas impact much greater than that of carbon dioxide. Onesource of methane leaks come from is at natural gas extraction sites. Inmany cases, leaks can be easily fixed if monitoring and trackingtechnologies are in place to detect and alert owner about the size andlocations of the leaks. Not only do these leaks have a majorenvironmental impact, they can present a health hazard. If these leaksgo unregulated or undetected, these hazards can become potentiallydetrimental and also a present a major financial burden on the operatingcompanies.

Currently, the detection of these leaks is a manual and tedious processthat involves a person inspecting a methane site with an infraredcamera. These inspections are infrequent and are in many cases notquantitative in determining the leak rate. In addition, thesesinspections pose health risks to the personnel who are tasked withperforming the inspections.

SUMMARY

Embodiments include methods and computer program products for detectinga gas leak with a drone are provided. The method includes capturing, bya drone, a first set of data regarding a presence of a gas in ageographic area while flying along an initial flight path through thegeographic area and creating one or more secondary flight paths throughone or more regions in the geographic area in which the presence of thegas exceeds a threshold amount. The method also includes capturing, by adrone, a second set of data regarding a concentration of the gas in theone or more regions while flying along the one or more secondary flightpaths and capturing, by a drone, wind data in the geographic area whileflying along the initial flight path and the one or more secondaryflight paths. The method also includes creating a three-dimensional gasplume model for gas leaks identified in the geographic area based on thefirst set of data, the second set of data and the wind data, wherein thethree-dimensional gas plume model identifies a location of a source ofthe gas leaks.

Embodiments include a drone for detecting a gas leak a geographic area.The drone includes a memory and a processor communicatively coupled tothe memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform a method. Themethod includes capturing, by a drone, a first set of data regarding apresence of a gas in a geographic area while flying along an initialflight path through the geographic area and creating one or moresecondary flight paths through one or more regions in the geographicarea in which the presence of the gas exceeds a threshold amount. Themethod also includes capturing, by a drone, a second set of dataregarding a concentration of the gas in the one or more regions whileflying along the one or more secondary flight paths and capturing, by adrone, wind data in the geographic area while flying along the initialflight path and the one or more secondary flight paths. The method alsoincludes creating a three-dimensional gas plume model for gas leaksidentified in the geographic area based on the first set of data, thesecond set of data and the wind data, wherein the three-dimensional gasplume model identifies a location of a source of the gas leaks.

Additional features are realized through the techniques of the presentinvention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are describedin detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. Fora better understanding of the invention with the features, refer to thedescription and to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features of embodiments of theinvention are apparent from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a drone in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a controller for a drone in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts a plan view of a system for detecting gas leaks using adrone in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict a schematic view of a flight plan of a drone forcollecting measurement data in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic view of a model of a gas leak in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of a method for detecting gas leaks usinga drone in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of a method for monitoring a geographicarea for a gas leak using a drone in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 8 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 9 depicts abstraction model layers according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments include systems, methods and computer program products fordetecting gas leaks using a drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle. Inexemplary embodiments, a drone includes sensors including a camera, aninfrared camera and one or more chemical sensors that are used tocapture data regarding the presence of gas in the air above a geographicarea. In exemplary embodiments, the drone can fly high above thegeographic area and capture images and distance measurements that areused to create a three-dimensional model of the geographic area. Thedrone flies along a first flight path determined based on thethree-dimensional model, through the geographic area and collectshigh-level information that indicates the presence of a gas leak.

In exemplary embodiments, one or more secondary flight plans areidentified in regions that have higher than expected levels of detectedgas based on the high-level information and the three-dimensional model.The drone then flies along the one or more secondary flight plans andcollects detailed gas concentration data. A three-dimensional model of agas plume gas in the geographical area is then created based on thecollected gas concentration data and the three-dimensional model of thegeographic area.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment is shown of a drone 20 orunmanned aerial vehicle. As used herein, the term “drone” refers to anaerial vehicle capable of operating autonomously from a human operatorto perform a predetermined function. The drone 20 includes a fuselage 22that supports at least one thrust device 24. In an embodiment, the drone20 includes a plurality of thrust devices 24A, 24B, such as four thrustdevices arranged about the periphery of the fuselage 22. In anembodiment, the thrust devices 24 include propeller member that rotatesto produce thrust. The thrust devices 24 may be configurable to provideboth lift (vertical thrust) and lateral thrust (horizontal thrust). Thevertical and horizontal components of the thrust allow the changing ofthe altitude, lateral movement and orientation (attitude) of the drone20.

In the exemplary embodiment, the fuselage 22 and thrust devices 24 aresized and configured to carry a plurality of sensors 26. In exemplaryembodiments, the sensors 26 can include image capture equipment, videocapture equipment, audio capture equipment, depth capture equipment, orany other type of data capture equipment. In one embodiment, the sensors26 include a camera, an infrared camera, and one or more gas sensors,such as a volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor that would be sensitiveto methane, ethane and other chemical gases. In some embodiments, thesensors can include a variety of chemical sensors configured to detectthe presence of specific compounds. In one embodiment, the VOC sensorcan sensitive to methane gas absorption and can be tuned to beselectively sensitive to change in methane concentration.

The drone 20 includes a controller 38 having a processing circuit. Thecontroller 38 may include processors that are responsive to operationcontrol methods embodied in application code such as those shown inFIGS. 6 and 7. These methods are embodied in computer instructionswritten to be executed by the processor, such as in the form ofsoftware. The controller 38 is coupled transmit and receive signals fromthe thrust devices 24 to determine and change their operational states(for example adjust lift from thrust devices 24). The controller 38 mayfurther be coupled to one or more devices that enable to the controllerto determine the position, orientation, and altitude of the drone 20. Inan embodiment, these devices include an altimeter 40, a gyroscope oraccelerometers 42 or a global positioning satellite (GPS) system 44. Thecontroller 38 is further coupled to the one or more sensors 26. Inexemplary embodiments, the drone 20 is configured to simultaneouslydetect the presence of a chemical compound, such as the methane gas,while recording its GPS location.

In exemplary embodiments, the drone 20 includes a camera that capturesimages that are processed with photogrammetry tools to develop athree-dimensional model of the environment the drone is flying in. Suchmodel can be stereographic imaging of an object from images acquired bya single camera under different viewing angle and altitudes. A drone canbe equipped with two cameras that are looking to the same image undertwo different angles and reconstruct the depth of the image in realtime. The three-dimensional model can also be used with simulations todetermine the spread and impact of a gas leak on the immediateenvironment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a controller 100 for use inimplementing a system or method according to some embodiments. Thesystems and methods described herein may be implemented in hardware,software (e.g., firmware), or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, the methods described may be implemented, at least in part,in hardware and may be part of the microprocessor of a special orgeneral-purpose controller 38, such as a personal computer, workstation,minicomputer, or mainframe computer.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the controller 100 includes aprocessor 105, memory 110 coupled to a memory controller 115, and one ormore input devices 145 and/or output devices 140, such as peripheral orcontrol devices that are communicatively coupled via a local I/Ocontroller 135. These devices 140 and 145 may include, for example,battery sensors, position sensors, cameras, microphones and the like.Input devices such as a conventional keyboard 150 and mouse 155 may becoupled to the I/O controller. The I/O controller 135 may be, forexample, one or more buses or other wired or wireless connections, asare known in the art. The I/O controller 135 may have additionalelements, which are omitted for simplicity, such as controllers, buffers(caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, to enable communications.

The I/O devices 140, 145 may further include devices that communicateboth inputs and outputs, for instance disk and tape storage, a networkinterface card (NIC) or modulator/demodulator (for accessing otherfiles, devices, systems, or a network), a radio frequency (RF) or othertransceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, and the like.

The processor 105 is a hardware device for executing hardwareinstructions or software, particularly those stored in memory 110. Theprocessor 105 may be a custom made or commercially available processor,a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary processor among severalprocessors associated with the controller 38, a semiconductor basedmicroprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chip set), amacroprocessor, or other device for executing instructions. Theprocessor 105 includes a cache 170, which may include, but is notlimited to, an instruction cache to speed up executable instructionfetch, a data cache to speed up data fetch and store, and a translationlookaside buffer (TLB) used to speed up virtual-to-physical addresstranslation for both executable instructions and data. The cache 170 maybe organized as a hierarchy of more cache levels (L1, L2, etc.).

The memory 110 may include one or combinations of volatile memoryelements (e.g., random access memory, RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM,etc.) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable read onlymemory (EEPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), tape, compactdisc read only memory (CD-ROM), disk, diskette, cartridge, cassette orthe like, etc.). Moreover, the memory 110 may incorporate electronic,magnetic, optical, or other types of storage media. Note that the memory110 may have a distributed architecture, where various components aresituated remote from one another but may be accessed by the processor105.

The instructions in memory 110 may include one or more separateprograms, each of which comprises an ordered listing of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions. In the example of FIG.2, the instructions in the memory 110 include a suitable operatingsystem (OS) 111. The operating system 111 essentially may control theexecution of other computer programs and provides scheduling,input-output control, file and data management, memory management, andcommunication control and related services.

Additional data, including, for example, instructions for the processor105 or other retrievable information, may be stored in storage 120,which may be a storage device such as a hard disk drive or solid statedrive. The stored instructions in memory 110 or in storage 120 mayinclude those enabling the processor to execute one or more aspects ofthe systems and methods of this disclosure.

The controller 100 may further include a display controller 125 coupledto a user interface or display 130. In some embodiments, the display 130may be an LCD screen. In some embodiments, the controller 100 mayfurther include a network interface 160 for coupling to a network 165.The network 165 may be an IP-based network for communication between thecontroller 38 and an external server, client and the like via abroadband connection. The network 165 transmits and receives databetween the controller 38 and external systems. In an embodiment, theexternal system may be the UAV 20. In some embodiments, the network 165may be a managed IP network administered by a service provider. Thenetwork 165 may be implemented in a wireless fashion, e.g., usingwireless protocols and technologies, such as WiFi, WiMax, satellite,etc. The network 165 may also be a packet-switched network such as alocal area network, wide area network, metropolitan area network, theInternet, or other similar type of network environment. The network 165may be a fixed wireless network, a wireless local area network (LAN), awireless wide area network (WAN) a personal area network (PAN), avirtual private network (VPN), intranet or other suitable network systemand may include equipment for receiving and transmitting signals.

Systems and methods according to this disclosure can be embodied, inwhole or in part, in computer program products or in controller 100,such as that illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a plan view of a system 200 for detecting gasleaks with a drone 202 in accordance with an embodiment is shown. Inexemplary embodiments, the drone 202 is configured to detect a gas leak212 in a pipeline 206 by flying through a geographic area 204 thatincludes the pipeline 206. In exemplary embodiments, the drone 202includes a camera that captures images of the geographic area 204 thatare processed with photogrammetry tools to develop a three-dimensionalmodel of the geographic area 204. Such model can be stereographicimaging of an object from images acquired by a single camera underdifferent viewing angle and altitudes. This three-dimensional model ofthe geographic area 204 can be used to create a flight plan 208 for thedrone 202 to follow through the geographic area 204.

In one embodiment, the drone flies along a flight path 208 through aplurality of regions 210 in the geographic area 204 and collects dataregarding the presence of gas in the regions 210. For example, the datacan include taking infrared images of the region 210 or taking periodicmeasurements of the concentration of the gas in the region 210. Inexemplary embodiments, an infrared camera is used to identify a largearea with a presence of methane gas and this identification iscorroborated the readings given by the VOC sensor. In some embodiments,the drone 202 can be in communication, either directly or indirectly,with a processing system 220 that is used to process the data collectedby the drone 202. In other embodiments, the drone 202 can utilize itsonboard processor to process the data collected by the drone 202.

Referring now to FIG. 4A a schematic view of a flight plan 300 of adrone for collecting measurement data in a geographic area 304 inaccordance with an embodiment is shown. In exemplary embodiments, theflight plan 300 includes an initial flight path 308 which includesflying along a grid pattern through the geographic area 304. The dronecollects data regarding the presence of gas while flying the initialflight path 308 and identifies one or more regions in the geographicarea that include higher than expected concentrations of gas. Secondaryflight paths 314 are then created for the one or more regions with thedetected gas and the drone flies along the secondary flight paths 314.In exemplary embodiments, the secondary flight paths can include aspiral pattern that is centered around the highest collectedconcentration of gas detected. The drone collects detailed dataregarding the presence of gas while flying along the secondary flightpaths 314.

In exemplary embodiments, the drone is configured to capture moredetailed information about the presence of gas while flying thesecondary flight plan that the initial flight plan, this can includesampling the gas concentration more frequently, sampling the gasconcentration with high accuracy sensors, or a combination of both. Inone example, the drone only uses an infrared camera to detect thepresence of gas while flying the initial flight path and it uses VOCsensors to collect data regarding the presence of gas while flying thesecondary flight path.

In exemplary embodiments, the drone can vary its altitude during theinitial and secondary flight paths based on the three-dimensional modelof the geographic area and/or based on the detected presence of gas inthe geographic area. In addition, the drone can use the GPS sensor totag the location of each gas concentration collected and each imagecaptured. In exemplary embodiments, the altimeter is used to determinethe three-dimensional coordinate to match the GPS coordinate. As aresult, the concentration of the detected gas can be estimated in athree-dimensional coordinate system.

In exemplary embodiments, while flying along the initial flight path,the drone will evaluate the wind speed and direction and record winddata. The wind speed and direction information will be used by thedrone, or another processing system, to predict the location of apossible gas leak and can be used in the calculation of the one or moresecondary flight paths. In exemplary embodiments, the wind direction andspeed can be extracted from either a wind sensor that is positioned onthe ground, from a sensor that is attached to the drone or it can beextracted from the currents that are fed to the engines that rotate thepropellers of the drone. In order to maintain the stability of the droneto stay in a still position, the drone needs to apply variable currentto the electric motors attached to the blades 24 (FIG. 1). The appliedcurrent will try to compensate the wind drag that tries to move thedrone from its desired location. The amount of current applied and thepattern in which is applied to the 4 blades (item 24 in FIG. 1) is acoarse indicator of the wind effect on the drone operation.

In exemplary embodiments, the altitude of the drone can be varied basedon the concentration of the gas detected. Once a gas plume is detected,the drone can fly through the gas plume at a slant angle allowingreconstructing the plumes under different weather conditions. Likewise,the flight paths can be carried out at different heights as the plumefrom the leaks may be moved by the wind. At each height a cross sectionof the plume concentration can be created. The cross section is going tobe modified as the wind direction is changing. In another embodiment,two separate plumes generated by separate sources may be united at acertain height, depending on the wind direction and wind speed. Flyingthe drone at lower altitudes can separate the two plumes and identifythat they are coming from different sources. Cross sectional measurementof the plume distribution at different heights or slanted plains can becreated. In one embodiment, the measurements of the concentration of thedetected gas can be plugged into a Gaussian model or a computationalfluid dynamic model to calculate how the plumes from those sources maybe dispersed by the wind. Additionally the plumes may be used tolocalize the leak or to determine its leak rate using an inversionmodel.

Referring now to FIG. 4B a schematic view of a flight path 308 of adrone 302 for collecting measurement data in a geographic area 304 inaccordance with an embodiment is shown. In exemplary embodiments, theflight path 308 is configured to traverse the geographic area 304 whileavoiding impacting one or more obstructions 318, such as buildings, inthe geographic area 304. In exemplary embodiments, the flight path 308of the drone 302 includes flying through a gas plume 316 that is formedbased on a gas leak 312.

Referring now to FIG. 5 a schematic view of a model 400 of a gas leak inaccordance with an embodiment is shown. In an exemplary embodiment, themodel 400 can be a three-dimensional model that illustrates one or moregas plumes 416 that are emanating from one or more gas leaks 412 in apipeline 406. In addition, the model 400 can include an indication ofthe wind direction 420. In exemplary embodiments, the model 400 can berendered in a variety of views including, but not limited to a side viewand a top view, as shown. In exemplary embodiments, the model 400 caninclude a rendering of the flight path 422 taken by the drone incollecting the measurements of the gas. We note that gas leaks may havedifferent chemical composition as they can be coming two differentsources (there could be two pipes 406 carrying methane mixed withdifferent ethane concentration or hydrogen sulphide (H2S)concentration). In one embodiment one leaks may have prevalently achemical concentration while the other source may have differentchemical composition. The plurality of sensors that are attached to thedrone will sense the mixing of the chemicals at different heights fromthe ground and create concentration maps for each chemical. Usingdifferential measurements the drone will detect the mixing ration of thetwo chemical sources and will associate chemical to the individualsources by acquiring methane plume maps at different heights.Furthermore, the model 400 can include an indication 420 of the detectedconcentrations of the gas disposed at the corresponding locations.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram of a method 500 for detectinggas leaks using a drone is depicted. As shown at block 502, the method500 includes capturing, using the drone, one or more images andmeasurements of a geographical area, wherein the measurements and theone or more images include GPS location information. Next, as shown atblock 504, the method includes creating a three-dimensional model of thegeographical area.

Many of the existing objects require image acquisition at a differentheight, different viewing angle, and images acquired at differentdistances from the boundary of the objects. While images may be acquiredusing dedicated techniques, an advantage of drone imaging is the abilityto quickly integrate changes that occur on the ground and update theseimages in near real time. This is useful when there are small changesdue to constructions, disasters, or nature-induced changes. The imagesacquired by the drone can be processed with photogrammetry software toproduce a three-dimensional mesh of the object. One advantage of havinga reconstruction of the scenery is the possibility to avoid duringflights those areas. In exemplary embodiments, the drone can be equippedwith a high-resolution camera that can acquire images under differentangles. The drone may be also equipped with a sensor like an ultrasoundsensor, laser, or GPS system.

In one embodiment, to measure accurately dimensions, the drone ispositioned at a certain height that may be the height of a building. Thedrone may send an ultrasound signal and time of flight is acquired. Thetime of travel is converted to distance and the building location fromactual drone location is estimated. The ultrasound signal can be sentunder a different angle to reconstruct distance and orientation of theblocking wall that reflect the ultrasound. The ultrasound signal and animage capture can be synchronized such that accurate distances can beassigned to the image reconstruction and create sub cm accuratereconstruction of the buildings, infrastructure, and vegetation. Both anacoustic distance estimate and a three-dimensional reconstruction can beextracted from the time of flight and images. Similarly, a laser pulsemay be sent toward the ground or wall of a building and time of returnis recorded. Or the GPS signal or pressure change as a function ofheight may be used to estimate the height of the object.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 6, the method 500 also includescreating, using the processor, a gas dispersion model for the geographicarea for modeling pollutant gas dispersion around objects in thethree-dimensional model of the geographical area, as shown at block 506.To create the plume dispersion the wind distribution around threedimensional objects needs to be modeled to understand how wind ismodified or blocked by infrastructure. In exemplary embodiments, the gasdispersion model is created based on the three-dimensional model of thegeographical area using a Gaussian model or a computational fluiddynamic model. Both models require as input the wind distribution andmeasurement of the gas concentration at different points around the areaof interest. Next, as shown at block 508, the method 500 includescapturing, using the drone, a plurality of measurements of a gas in thegeographical area. In exemplary embodiments, the drone can utilize amethod such as the one shown in FIG. 7 to capture the plurality ofmeasurements of a gas in the geographical area. Next, as shown at block508, the method 500 includes creating, a three-dimensional gas plumemodel based on the plurality of measurements of the gas and the gasdispersion model.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow chart illustrating a method 600 formonitoring a geographic area for a gas leak using a drone is shown. Asshown at block 602, the method 600 includes creating an initial flightpath for a geographic area based on a three-dimensional model of thegeographical area. In exemplary embodiments, the initial flight pathincludes a grid pattern through an entirety of the geographic area andthe grid pattern is created based on the three-dimensional model of thegeographic area to avoid the drone impacting any objects in thegeographic area during flight. Next, as shown at block 606, the method600 includes flying the drone along the initial flight path andcapturing a plurality of infrared images of the geographical area. Themethod also includes identifying one or more regions with potential gasleaks in the geographical area based on the plurality of infraredimages, as shown at block 608. In exemplary embodiments, the pluralityof infrared images can be analyzed to determine whether a presence of agas in an area exceeds a threshold amount. Next, as shown at block 610,the method 600 includes creating one or more secondary flight plans forthe one or more regions with potential gas leaks based on thethree-dimensional model of the geographical area. In exemplaryembodiments, the one or more secondary flight paths includes a spiralpattern through each of the one or more regions. The spiral patterns canbe created based on the three-dimensional model of the geographic areato avoid impact with objects in the one or more regions and at the sametime minimize the amount of flight while detecting the leak sources.Next, as shown at block 612, the method 600 includes flying the dronealong the secondary flight path and capturing a plurality of gasconcentration samples. In exemplary embodiments, a plurality of gasconcentration samples are collected by a volatile organic compound (VOC)sensor disposed on the drone.

In one embodiment, a method to detect a gas leak based on a sensorequipped unmanned aerial vehicle is provided. The unmanned aerialvehicle includes an infrared camera configured to detect the locationand extent of a gas plume. The unmanned aerial vehicle is configured tofly in a grid pattern above that area and will acquire gas concentrationmeasurement using a VOC sensor. The flying grid pattern can be changeddynamically as new rescue objects may appear to avoid Collision and safeoperation of the drone. This is important as in the case of chemicalpollution, direct line of sight for drone operation may not be possibleand drone may need to switch to autonomous operations where it has tocalculate a safe flying route. The unmanned aerial vehicle can acquireimagery at different heights and viewing angles to determine objects inthe area using stereographic reconstruction. In exemplary embodiments,the three-dimensional model can be used to identify locations where gasconcentration measurements should be carried out due to obstruction andwind flow pattern.

In general, fracking sites are not very well documented regardingconstruction and infrastructure that are modified from the designmoment. By some estimates, these unmonitored and unregulated sites leaka large amount of methane gas every year. A drone system for monitoringgas leaks as describe above can be used to create three-dimensionalmodels of the fracking sites and to monitor the fracking sites for gasleaks.

In another embodiment, a drone system for monitoring gas leaks asdescribe above can be used to monitor the presence of a biogas in thearea around a farm. The system can be used to establish the pattern ofbiogas emission, time of the year when emission is high and design asystem to capture the biogas as a fuel. In a further embodiment, a dronesystem for monitoring gas leaks as describe above can be deployed atchemical sites or zones with a potential chemical hazard to detect thepresence of various chemical using a variety of different chemicalsensors. Likewise, the system for monitoring gas leaks as describe abovecan be outfitted with a Geiger counter and can be used to detect thepresence of radioactive materials in nuclear hazardous zones.

Technical benefits of the methods and systems provided herein includethe ability to safely and reliably monitor an area for the presence of aharmful chemical or other material. Once the presence of a harmfulchemical or other material is detected, the methods and systemsdisclosed herein can be used to create three-dimensional models of theharmful chemical or other material and to identify the source and amountof emission of the harmful chemical or other material. In exemplaryembodiments, the methods and systems provided herein can detect leaksthat are in volume from 0.1 l/hour to 1000 l/h and distinguish leaksthat are separated from each other by a few inches from up to a few miledistance.

It should be appreciated that while embodiments herein refer to acontroller 100 as controlling and managing the drone, this is forexemplary purposes and the claims should not be so limited. Theanalytics can be distributed across multiple computational platformslike mobile devices, laptop computers, cloud based on the computationalcapabilities of the devices and the timeline required to extract theanalytics to run the drone operation. In other embodiments, thecontrolling and managing of the drone may be performed by a plurality ofcontrollers, a distributed computing environment or a cloud computingenvironment. It is understood in advance that although this disclosureincludes a detailed description on cloud computing, implementation ofthe teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computingenvironment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable ofbeing implemented in conjunction with any other type of computingenvironment now known or later developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

-   -   On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally        provision computing capabilities, such as server time and        network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human        interaction with the service's provider.    -   Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network        and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by        heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile        phones, laptops, and PDAs).    -   Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled        to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with        different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned        and reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location        independence in that the consumer generally has no control or        knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but        may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction        (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).    -   Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically        provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out        and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the        capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be        unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.    -   Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and        optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at        some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service        (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user        accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and        reported providing transparency for both the provider and        consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

-   -   Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the        consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a        cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from        various client devices through a thin client interface such as a        web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not        manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including        network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual        application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited        user-specific application configuration settings.    -   Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the        consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure        consumer-created or acquired applications created using        programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The        consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud        infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems,        or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and        possibly application hosting environment configurations.    -   Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to        the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and        other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able        to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include        operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage        or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control        over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and        possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g.,        host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

-   -   Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for        an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a        third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.    -   Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several        organizations and supports a specific community that has shared        concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and        compliance considerations). It may be managed by the        organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or        off-premises.    -   Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the        general public or a large industry group and is owned by an        organization selling cloud services.    -   Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two        or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain        unique entities but are bound together by standardized or        proprietary technology that enables data and application        portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between        clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 8, illustrative cloud computing environment 550 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 550 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 552 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 554A, desktop computer 554B, laptop computer554C, and/or automobile computer system 554N may communicate. Nodes 552may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or acombination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 550 tooffer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which acloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 554A-Nshown in FIG. 8 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 552 and cloud computing environment 550 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 9, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 550 (FIG. 8) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 9 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 560 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 561;RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 562;servers 563; blade servers 564; storage devices 565; and networks andnetworking components 566. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 567 and database software568.

Virtualization layer 570 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers571; virtual storage 572; virtual networks 573, including virtualprivate networks; virtual applications and operating systems 574; andvirtual clients 575.

In one example, management layer 580 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 581 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 582provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 583 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 584provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 585 provides pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 590 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 591; software development and lifecycle management 592;virtual classroom education delivery 593; data analytics processing 594;transaction processing 595; and a UAV positioning and monitoringmanagement 596. The UAV positioning and monitoring management 596 mayperform one or more methods for detecting gas leaks using a drone, suchas but not limited to the methods described in reference to FIG. 6 andFIG. 7 for example.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

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 10. (canceled) 11.A drone for detecting gas leaks in a geographic area, the dronecomprising: a memory; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory,wherein the processor is configured to perform a method comprising:capturing a first set of data regarding a presence of a gas in ageographic area while flying along an initial flight path through thegeographic area; creating one or more secondary flight paths through oneor more regions in the geographic area in which the presence of the gasexceeds a threshold amount; capturing a second set of data regarding aconcentration of the gas in the one or more regions while flying alongthe one or more secondary flight paths; capturing wind data in thegeographic area while flying along the initial flight path and the oneor more secondary flight paths; and creating a three-dimensional gasplume model for gas leaks identified in the geographic area based on thefirst set of data, the second set of data and the wind data, wherein thethree-dimensional gas plume model identifies a location of a source ofthe gas leaks.
 12. The drone of claim 11, the method further comprisescreating the initial flight path based on a three-dimensional model ofthe geographic area, wherein the three-dimensional model of thegeographic area is created by the drone.
 13. The drone of claim 12,wherein the three-dimensional model of the geographic area is createdbased on a plurality of GPS tagged images and measurements of objects inthe geographic area captured by the drone.
 14. The drone of claim 13,wherein the initial flight path includes a grid pattern through anentirety of the geographic area, wherein the grid pattern is createdbased on the three-dimensional model of the geographic area to avoidimpact with objects in the geographic area.
 15. The drone of claim 11,wherein the second set of data regarding the concentration of the gas inthe geographic area includes a plurality of gas concentrations capturedby a volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor disposed on the drone. 16.The drone of claim 11, wherein the first set of data regarding thepresence of the gas in the geographic area includes a plurality ofinfrared images of the geographic area captured by the drone.
 17. Thedrone of claim 11, wherein the initial flight path includes a gridpattern through an entirety of the geographic area.
 18. The drone ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more secondary flight paths includes aspiral pattern through each of the one or more regions.
 19. A computerreadable non-transitory article of manufacture tangibly embodyingcomputer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a computerdevice to carry out the steps of a method comprising: capturing, by adrone, a first set of data regarding a presence of a gas in a geographicarea while flying along an initial flight path through the geographicarea; creating one or more secondary flight paths through one or moreregions in the geographic area in which the presence of the gas exceedsa threshold amount; capturing, by a drone, a second set of dataregarding a concentration of the gas in the one or more regions whileflying along the one or more secondary flight paths; capturing, by adrone, wind data in the geographic area while flying along the initialflight path and the one or more secondary flight paths; and creating athree-dimensional gas plume model for gas leaks identified in thegeographic area based on the first set of data, the second set of dataand the wind data, wherein the three-dimensional gas plume modelidentifies a location of a source of the gas leaks.
 20. The computerreadable non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 19, the methodfurther comprises creating the initial flight path based on athree-dimensional model of the geographic area, wherein thethree-dimensional model of the geographic area is created by the drone.21. The computer readable non-transitory article of manufacture of claim20, wherein the three-dimensional model of the geographic area iscreated based on a plurality of GPS tagged images and measurements ofobjects in the geographic area captured by the drone.
 22. The computerreadable non-transitory article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein theinitial flight path includes a grid pattern through an entirety of thegeographic area, wherein the grid pattern is created based on thethree-dimensional model of the geographic area to avoid impact withobjects in the geographic area.
 23. The computer readable non-transitoryarticle of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the second set of dataregarding the concentration of the gas in the geographic area includes aplurality of gas concentrations captured by a volatile organic compound(VOC) sensor disposed on the drone.
 24. The computer readablenon-transitory article of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the first setof data regarding the presence of the gas in the geographic areaincludes a plurality of infrared images of the geographic area capturedby the drone.
 25. The computer readable non-transitory article ofmanufacture of claim 19, wherein the initial flight path includes a gridpattern through an entirety of the geographic area.